LPL Financial Charity Contest

Jason on November 9, 2011

Voting for the Cause

I always had the goal of producing a creative video to help create more exposure and awareness for PPA research before the New Year. This idea quiclkly became fast-tracked due to my company, LPL Financial, offering a $500 prize for best charity video, $250 for 2nd place, and $100 for 3rd place. Since I won the last two firm wide competitions-one for our New Accounts Team and another to cover our Annual Conference as a “Rovering Reporter”-I knew people would be gunning to knock me off.  In fact, I got emails internally stating that “You will not 3-peat” and “I was going down.” With this type of incentive and motivation, I wanted to craft a movie that would instantly grab the viewers attention as well as educate people about this relatively unknown disease.

I needed an idea that was fresh and would stick in people’s minds longer than 5 minutes after they saw the footage.

I brainstormed the idea of a silent movie with cue cards explaining the symptoms of PPA and why fighting to raise awareness for research is absolutely essential. The original premise was to stand in a dimly lit room with a spotlight pointed squarly on my body dropping cue cards one at a time while music playing in the background. About 10 minutes into filming, my friend Brad and I realized this wasn’t going to work nor be as effective as we wanted to portray.

We talked about it and came up with something special.

Instead of solely standing in one place dropping card after card, why not venture around Charlotte (my current place of residence) and take photos with the cue cards all over the city? This approach would defintely captivate people’s attention by demanding they not only read each written phrase but also have a scenic visual along the journey. The concept was so moving that we went out that evening and started shooting.

Over the course of the next couple days, we photographed all our shots, edited the movie and blended in background music. I submitted the video to my company for firm-wide voting and qualified in the Top 3. The 3 videos included:

a) Unchained Dogs – building fences for dog owners so they don’t have to chain their dogs down for fear they will run away.

b) Rescue Mission Farm Project – growing fresh produce for those in need in the Temecula and north San Diego County regions.

c) What would you do for THE CAUSE? – creating awareness and research for PPA while bringing light to a disease that over 1,000,000 people fight everyday.

The voting period went from Monday-Friday and on Thursday morning, the 3 of us received an email – 1st Place: Unchained Dogs (113), 2nd Place: PPA Video (101), 3rd Place: Rescue Mission (76). I immediately assembled a meeting with my AVP’s and managers in hopes of spreading the word amongst my firm by establishing a marketing strategy that targeted all 3 of our office locations: Boston, San Diego and Charlotte. The hardest part about generating exposure is ensuring people take a couple minutes out of their busy day to be cognizant of what’s going on. While voting on the video contest will clearly benefit all charities involved, with all work responsibilities we have on a daily basis, this competition can easily get lost in the shuffle of daily emails and routine homepage postings.

Since my SVP has strong working relationships with our Boston office, I asked him to email the executives and get them to view the videos for voting. One of my AVP’s worked in San Diego for years, and I insisted she email all the managers out west and make them aware of the competition. Lastly, I decided to personally email each employee on our marketing and sales teams about the closely contested race and provided them with a direct link to the movies. They now had every opportunity to watch the video submissions and make an informed decision.

The next morning, I got a phone call from corporate communications, “You Won! How did you get so many votes?  What was your secret? We will email you the final totals by lunch.”

Final Totals: 1st Place: PPA (245), 2nd Place: Unchained Dogs (145), 3rd Place: Rescue Farm Mission (131).

The hidden secret to the massive swing in votes for this race was nothing that secretive at all, rather what we are always trying to promote for this campaign: AWARENESS! When people are presented with information about this disease and cause, they take notice.  Managers sent emails to their teams, employees emailed one another and I received loads of complimentary emails from fellow co-workers. Even from the guy who said “You will not 3-Peat!”

Substance = Results.

It doesn’t take much to spread the word, just a couple minutes out of your day. And for spreading the word, Run4Papa raised another $500 for research thanks to the employees at LPL Financial taking a couple minutes out of their day to learn more about a disease they had never heard of moments before…

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Red Rock Amphitheatre

Jason on November 7, 2011

Running the Steps in Altitude

After hiking through the Red Rock Canyon trails out in Colorado, my friend ilana drove us over to the Red Rock Amphitheater. Having never heard of this place before (yes music is not one of my expertise categories in life), I was intrigued to see this venue carved out in the middle of these beautiful Red Rock Canyons. We toured the “wall of fame” and saw all the artists and bands that performed over the years: The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead, R.E.M., Fleetwood Mac, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Coldplay, and of course local folk rocker John Denver (and hundreds more not listed).

The amphitheater is a rock structure where concerts are given in the open-air amphitheater. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind the stage, a huge vertical rock angled outwards from stage right, several large outcrops angled outwards from stage left and a seating area for up to 9,450 people in between. This was some sight to see during the daytime, I can only fathom the experience at night under the stars.

Overlooking the railing at the top of the amphitheatre, we saw row after row of seating (no seatbacks, just benches). The rows were spaced apart to the point where you would have to take one very large stride to reach the next row.  There were a handful of people running the stairs from bottom to top & top to bottom while other people were running up one row and then down another. And of course, you had a couple characters who were flat out insane doing all sorts of intense pushup’s and lunges from one side to the other in the seating area (it hurt to look at!).
I had every intent on soaking up the surrounding scenery from the impressive architectural layout to standing on a stage where so many legendary performers have played over the years. However, watching people train at this venue quickly became too good an opportunity to pass up. I had to improvise and seize the opportunity…

I asked my friend ilana to film several clips for Run 4 Papa campaign in the amphitheater at altitude. Just like running in the south can help prepare for long distance races due to the heat, the altitude is a solid test of how fit one actually is. Not surprisingly, while running these steps and rows, the altitude attacked my lungs and forced shorter breaths as fatigue set in at a faster rate. The recovery time was far harsher than I envisioned, but another important learning experience that will be invaluable out on The Great Wall of China.

All in all, it was a memorable experience and one which I was appreciative to share with my friends and all of you who continue to support the cause to raise awareness for PPA research on behalf of all patients and families fighting everyday for a cure.

To watch video of this improvised run, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK-THYnggNQ

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Running in Altitude

Jason on November 7, 2011

Run4Papa Meets Red Rock Amphitheater

Turning up to see the Red Rock Amphitheater started off as a venue to take in the beautiful scenery in Colorado, but quickly turned into a training session shortly thereafter.

To read more about this run, go to: Improvising on the Fly

A Year Ago

Jason on November 6, 2011

365 Days Ago The Journey Began

Good luck to all those running the ING NYC Marathon today! A year ago today, the evolution of the Run4Papa campaign started to become a reality. A simple suggestion and conversation with my little brother after completing the marathon began a journey that has continued to inspire so many…

Denver Gorilla Run

Jason on November 3, 2011

 Running Wild in The Mile High City

When Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin “Megatron” Johnson did not “complete the process of the catch,” the Detroit Lions ended up losing  a heart breaker on the road last season to the Chicago Bears. He clearly caught the ball, but it was ruled an incomplete pass. My friends and I decided right then and there we were going to take a road trip next season to watch our boys play in person.

When the schedule was released earlier this spring, Denver was the unanimous choice.  What originally started out as weekend trip to see our boys compete, ended up turning into an extended trip to The Mile High City that embraced Halloween, hosted one of the most enjoyable 5K events around the nation, and of course magnified the hype that is Tim Tebow.

The 8th annual 5K Gorilla Run attracted more than 1,200 runners in ape suits to the Wynkoop Brewery to raise money for the Denver-based Mountain Gorilla Conservation fund.  You can go around this course anyway you would like that is not motorized. For the diehard runner and going for 1st place (male and female), the only requirement is that you have to keep your full gorilla suit on.

There were 3 waves: 1st wave was all gorillas with wheels (bikes, roller blades skateboards, wheel chairs, etc.).  The 2nd wave was all “Silverback” runners (the competitive ones that plan to win the race).  And the 3rd wave was the rest of the walkers, joggers and etc.

Each runner is given a full-on gorilla suit accompanied with a mask and gorilla hands. Most people elect to “add” to their costume.  For example, there were groups of people dressed up as Star Trek Monkeys, Bay Watch Monkeys, Hockey Monkeys on Roller blades and even two monkeys running while carrying a “mock-human” on a stick (arms and legs tied together).

We chose to outfit our costumes in Detroit Lions jerseys! #81 (Johnson), #26 (Delmas), #90 (Suuuuuuuuuuh) and #9 Stafford. From the minute we got out of our car we were getting positive reactions from on-lookers.  Other monkeys wanted our picture together, with them, and of course “Tebowing.”

Since we weren’t in the timed wave, my friends and I really took in the atmosphere of this race. It was a welcome change from some of the other races where my competitiveness takes over and I am shooting for a particular time to hit.

The weather was about 65 degrees and sunny when the race began.  We ran alongside the streets and river of downtown Denver.  We chased after people dressed as bananas, went between a semi-circle of rocks to do a unified “Tebowing,” and stopped at various points to take pictures of fellow monkey runners dressed in costume.  At one point during our race, I saw a skater park and veered off course temporarily to pose on a skateboard. The skaters were laughing and not entirely sure why a monkey wearing a Lions jersey was on their skateboard.

The entire event was so much fun and I highly recommend participating in this race if you live in Denver or if you are thinking about coming to Denver over Halloween weekend in the future. Of course, it didn’t hurt either that the Lions demolished the Broncos and confirm that in fact, Tim Tebow does not walk on water with a 45-10 victory!

To watch video, go to: Running Wild in The Mile High City

To see photos, go to: Denver Gorilla Run

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It is Official!

Jason on November 1, 2011

Hustling up the Hancock

Each year over 4,000 people climb to the top of John Hancock Center to raise funds for lung disease research, advocacy and education. In 2011 over 2,500 participants indicated they or someone they know has been touched by a form of lung disease. Participants choose from two climbing categories–full climb (94 floors) or half climb (52 floors).

I have elected to do the Full Climb: this division is for the competitive athlete looking for the ultimate challenge of scaling 94 floors.

This race will be a perfect measuring stick in preparation for The Great Wall of China Marathon’s 5,164 steps.

The race takes place on February 26th, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois.

Run4Papa Meets High Line

Jason on October 28, 2011

I am NOT Justin Verlander

Sitting in Row 15, Seat C flying toward La Guardia airport, I was contemplating which area of NYC to run through on this visit. My little brother Jared normally would’ve mapped out a plan of attack for the entire weekend of fun adventures; however, on this particular getaway, he was off to Israel making his own plan of attack: a wedding proposal!

Fortunately, my little sister Natalie (who interned in Manhattan last summer) had plenty of advice on places to run. One of her suggestions was High Line: a 1.45 mile section of the former elevated freight railroad running along the lower west side of Manhattan which has been redesigned and planted as an aerial greenway. The recycling of the railway into an urban park has spurred real estate development in the neighborhoods which lie along the line.

On my previous trip to Manhattan, I was told to visit the Chelsea Market (highly recommend by the way) but was not aware of this new development nearby. My sister mentioned that it was a touristy hot spot and wasn’t confident that I would be able to run this stretch due to the clutter of visitors. With that in mind, I woke up around 8AM, threw on some gear and walked to the subway.

As I emerged from the subway and headed toward High Line, I sensed this was going to be a different type of experience. Thankfully, there were only a handful of people at High Line when I started my run from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District through the neighborhood of Chelsea and finished near the Jarvits Convention Center.

Throughout my run, I saw people relaxing in rolling lounges positioned for river views and vendors underneath the windy overhangs selling works of art promoting city culture. I saw an area that had several clear blocks of glass where you could sit on benches that overlooked Manhattan’s west side skyline. Other features of this urban park’s attractions included naturalized plantings and unexpected views of the city and Hudson river.

After running one full length of High Line, I turned around and started heading back toward the other side. On my jog back, there were noticeably more people out and about taking in the sights and sounds of the city. As I was neared the end of my run, there was a lady who started following me snapping her camera pretty rapidly.  I thought I was in her way until she asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be in Texas?”

This caught me off-guard because I originally convinced my brother weeks back that I was going to be in Dallas celebrating my birthday over this weekend. The purpose: to distract him from thinking I would actually be in NYC so that I could surprise him and his fiancée upon their return from Israel.

“All I want is a picture and an autograph. I won’t create a scene but my husband will appreciate it!” I asked her who she thought I was and she replied, “Justin Verlander.” Being from Michigan, I was flattered by the comparison (even though I don’t see it), and took a picture with her and said again, “You’re husband is going to know that I am not Verlander.” She laughed and said, “Sign this and I will let him decide…”

I signed the piece of paper and handed her my Run 4 Papa business card.  Hopefully, when her husband sees the digital picture, he will affirm that I am not Justin Verlander, but rather a guy looking to promote PPA research instead. And if they are still not convinced, maybe they will choose to make a contribution and spread the word on behalf of Justin Verlander and his supporters at Run 4 Papa.

To watch video of the event, go to: Run4Papa Meets High Line

To see photos of the former elevated freight railroad transformed into an urban park, go to: High Line

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Run4Papa on High Line

Jason on October 28, 2011

 Not Your Average Park

There are a million different places to go for a run in NYC but when my sister suggested High Line, a former freight railroad transformed into an urban park, peaked my curiosity.

To read more about this run, go to: I am not Justin Verlander

 

 

The results are IN!

Jason on October 21, 2011

Goodbye $20,000, HELLO $50,000!

Thank you to everyone that reunited with my “Papa” and supported the climb of 5,164!  I could not have imagined the fundraiser being anymore successful: over 150 guests came to support the journey as well as hundreds whom mailed in contributions before & after the big day. We have tallied the totals:

  • Total raised for Support the Climb of 5,164 ($1/step) –  $19,427
  • Total overall raised to date – $24,915
  • NEW GOAL – $50,000

Due to the massive global support of this campaign, we reached our initial goal far quicker than we envisioned.  We are so thankful and appreciative for all the words of encouragement and realize this journey has so much more potential ahead.

As you may be aware by now, I originally set the goal of $20,000 as a barometer for the Run 4 Papa campaign to create awareness and raise funds for PPA research. When I was staring at a blank screen 94 short days ago with a thermometer that showed $0 at the bottom and a 20K at the top, I had no idea how short or long it would take to achieve this goal.

It takes a lot of people to make this happen, and believe me, I have had plenty of help from family, friends and complete strangers willing to offer their time and advice to move this campaign forward and create exposure for PPA and those battling this disease every day.

As a direct result of that effort and time, we are raising the new goal to $50,000.  We realize this is quite ambitious but I am confident that with the same work mentality, help, and support, this new goal can and WILL be reached over the remaining 210 days before the Great Wall of China Marathon.

I greatly appreciate the support and please continue to spread the good word about this cause.

A film dedicated for all people diagnosed with PPA that struggle to communicate but are fighting everyday – Run4Papa is behind you!

To watch video of the event, go to: Support the Climb of 5,164

To see photos from the fundraiser, go to: Reunite with Dr. Louis “Papa” Heyman

Thank you so much to all the Gold, Silver and In-Kind sponsors for your willingness to contribute to this special event by funding PPA research and providing food for our guests.

Gold Sponsors

Adams Development Corporation, Allegra Printing & Imaging, Breath of Spring Florist, OrthoCarolina 10K Classic, Sellers Orthdontics, Raymour & Flanigan Furniture

 Silver Sponsors

Bienenstock Nationwide Court Reporting & Video, Haddassah, Taubman, Nadis and Neuman (attorney&#39s-at-law), SAV-ON DRUGS

In-Kind Donations

Bake Station * Berci Letterpress Services * Brooklyn Bagel *Cherry Blossom Farms * CK Mediterranean Grille * Dakota Bread * Detroit Bagel * Diamond Bakery * Dunkin Donuts * Einstein Bros Bagel * Hiller&#39s Market * Jonny Pomodoro&#39s * Long Lake Market * Market Square * Mrs. Maddox Cake Shoppe * New York Bagel * Star Deli

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